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need to wipe mac with no disc, outdated browser and no $$$
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zrank
Newbie
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9. January 2010 @ 05:28 |
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i received an old mac as a gift a few years back. for last 2 years computer was never turned on because of bad wiring at apt i was living in. better to be safe, right?
well, just moved in and got settled. browser is outdated. when i go to apple online to download safari4.04SnowLeopard.pkg it shows up on desktop but says cannot open because "bill of material cannot be found".
i do not have os x system intall/restore cd or any disks for this mac.
nothing on computer i need to save except iTunes.
the previous computer owner seems a bit busy to get back to me.
my brother says he won't use torrent site to burn software b/c of viruses (he uses it for music cds tho')
i need computer to put orders in for candle sales to start in a few days so i can help support my five month old. sorry didn't mean to bore with details or break any forum rules; i am new to all of this and just feeling ::overwhelmed::
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scum101
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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9. January 2010 @ 10:06 |
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Look for a ppc linux version ..
http://penguinppc.org/about/distributions.php
But make sure to read all the instructions.. there will be a detailed guide for the one you pick somewhere.
I think the error you get is due to having an unsupported operating system and no pay account set up.. I hate macs because everything is bloody payware.
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1 product review
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10. January 2010 @ 01:10 |
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We really don't know what kind of computer you have, or why you can't use the operating system that came with it. So, let's assume only that you can burn optical media, CD at least. Here's the fastest & easiest way to install an excellent operating system on your mystery Mac; Fedora's hardware requirements are so small, your Mac surely satisfies them. I believe it even has an iTunes clone.
0. Copy anything on the hard drive you want saved (/Music) to a CD or DVD as data, or copy the whole drive to a mounted USB drive as a compressed disk image. Get ready to lose everything on your disk as GNU/Linux re-initializes the disk, partitions it, formats it, and installs the latest Fedora GNU/Linux with NSA security extensions and ...well, probably the GNOME graphical interface, though you can later subsitute KDE.
It will also install office applications, including browser with (presumably) FlashPlayer. Anything additional, you can use the Synaptic Package Manager to install in a moment.
Suggestions
1. Just have your brother download by bittorrent the following DVD disc image, and burn it to a DVD for you.
Bittorrent Disc Images of Fedora Installer
http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/
Choose the file Fedora-12-ppc-DVD.torrent, and burn the 3.5 GB image to a DVD.
2. Place the DVD in your optical reader of your Mac and boot the mystery PowerPC Mac with the 'C' key held down until you hear the optical disc spinning for a few moments.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to re-initialize, partition, format, and install Fedora 12 (with packages you have chosen) to your boot disk. Have at hand your ISP's username & password, and password for your e-mail.
4. When done, reboot normally and Fedora 12 with all your needed applications should appear. If you need more, use the Synaptic Project Manager to instantly install them over the internet, from Fedora's archive.
5. If you encounter any problems, send your brother here:
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/
Just substitute 'ppc' for 'i686' in the file names.
6. If you later use your model number to determine exactly what Mac you have, you can always buy a new, full install DVD of the MacOSX version that came with it from eBay. This will be equivalent to the install disc for Fedora that you burned, and it will remove Fedora and install MacOSX. You can often buy new, full versions of Leopard, Tiger, &c on DVD from eBay.
Observations
1. 'Snow Leopard', MacOSX 10.6, has stringent hardware requirements, which an 'old' Mac given you two years ago is unlikely to satisfy.
2. Snow Leopard is sold, to my knowledge, only by Apple, on DVDs for $30; and this is only an upgrade from Leopard, MacOSX 10.5, which must be on your hard disk.
3. The package you describe is a compressed, disk image of the DVD to install Snow Leopard. It is not distributed by Apple, and is likely a malware-infested disc image from a bittorrent site. Your brother is right; take his advice!
4. Scum's suggestion is best, though his page is a little out of date. I've forgotten your error message, but the BOM (bill of materials) is a list of files in the disc image and where they go. Yours may be looking for subdirectories that Leopard has that your mystery OS doesn't: this could be its method for insuring you already have Leopard installed. (Clearly, I don't know.)
In any case, if you wish to install a free, easy to use, fast equivalent to MacOSX without all the pretty graphics, follow the above instructions. It will likely install security-enhanced Fedora with a GNOME interface. It likely uses DHCP to query your ISP and set up your network instantly with only your ISP's password. Or, you can setup your modem with your ISP's information.
It will do everything you need, and your computer will be up and running in an hour or two, at no cost. If your Mac hasn't the PowerPC processor, either older than iBook or newer than PowerBook, use the model number to identify your computer and download & burn the appropriate install disc.
If your computer came with a functioning OS, you can just use it. Have your brother use 'single-user mode' to fix what prevents you from using it. Apple sells only the latest OS, which is a Snow Leopard upgrade (from Leopard only) at the moment. I doubt you have either the OS or time for this.
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Member
1 product review
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10. January 2010 @ 01:31 |
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Sorry, now that I can see your error message, I see you tried to install the Safari browser in .pkg format using an older installer of packages on .dmg, an installer that looks for a BOM in the package.
If your Mac had MacOSX 10.3 (Panther) or 10.2 (Jaguar) installed, its package installer would produce this error. Click on the blue Apple and see what operating system you're running.
If it's 10.3 or earlier, Safari won't really run, even an earlier one. Install instead Firefox from an archive such as MacUpdate.
Sorry, we could give better solutions if your brother helped give us more information. :-)
Edited by gneiss1 to correct typos.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10. January 2010 @ 01:55
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1 product review
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10. January 2010 @ 01:48 |
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One last hint. I usually advocate not upgrading your OS. When given a Mac, you should have been given all the discs that came with it. When Apple 'updates' daily your system, your system grows in size and slows in execution. This isn't helped by Apple's using one or two disk partitions for its whole system.
The iBook and PowerBook series were defective in having many logic boards that died by breaking a solder joint after about two years. Heat was their enemy. However, you may wish to fill the memory modules to their maximum.
In any case, if your hardware is sufficient for MacOSX 10.4, stay with MacOSX 10.3. This is because Panther, slim at 10.3.0, was incrementally upgraded with releases until the last release, safe & stable, required the resources of 10.4.0, which was not safe & stable.
Should you have 10.3, Firefox is superior in many ways to Safari (security extensions that catch web bugs, remove ads); and you can find a face (a 'skin') for it that closely resembles Safari.
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zrank
Newbie
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10. January 2010 @ 11:00 |
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Thank you both for your speedy replies. When I click on the blue apple it shows I have Version: Mac OS X 10.2.8 (6R73). The family I babysat for gave it to me as I had no computer at the time. Sounds like it may have been outdated (?) -- they did not give any discs with mac. I am not married to Safari; it was on there at the time. I have heard good things about firefox. Any additional info I can provide to make specific diagnosis easier??
My brother isn't being very helpful. My friend said I can burn what i need but she has only a cd burner.
Thank you sooooooooo much with info and quick response; I thought it would take weeks to get info b/c i have mac...
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1 product review
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10. January 2010 @ 16:56 |
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You're welcome.
Why do you want to re-initialize your disk? You can buy MacOSX 10.3 discs on eBay and do this, but you'll only end up with a slower computer. Don't upgrade. Berkeley's BSD 4.3 Unix was a very mature operating system, and still is. You should be able to do anything involving candles right now.
MacOSX 10.2 gives you everything you need except an acceptable browser and video iChat, if you need it. Can you make do with Firefox and audio iChat? You have a Unix, graphical workstation: almost pure BSD 4.3 Unix running rapidly on Mach, a microkernel from Carnegie-Mellon University. Though it was thought impossible by most, Apple modified Mach to run very rapidly.
Yours may someday be a collectable computer, for MacOSX 10.2 (Jaguar) was the first personal computer to not execute the desktop's graphical code, OpenGL, in the CPU, but the GPU. This had been done in the 1980s by Silicon Graphics workstations, to create special effects in film. Steve Jobs, before returning to Apple, had founded Pixar and was very familiar with SGI and its graphics language, which it released freely as OpenGL. Compared with Windows in 2002, the little iBook's graphics were stunning (and still are).
What Version of Firefox you Need
Safari was offered in beta-test in 10.3 (Panther). Your MacOSX version used 'Internet Explorer', which was dreadful. However, it also supported Firefox v.1.0.7, according to old messages on the Apple Discussion Board.
Use of 'Disk Utility' when installing every Application
Before and after installing any software, including daily updates from Apple, you would be well-advised to (1) use an administrator's account: the first account created, or one marked 'administrator' by logging into the first and going to 'Accounts' in 'System Preferences'. This installs Firefox so every user can share it.
Also, (2) find 'Disk Utility' in /Applications/Utilities and check the file system for consistency. If it proves corrupt, one normally boots from the install disc and fixes the unmounted boot disk. This is necessary because repairs will be done on the disk without informing MacOSX. To prevent disasters, one needs to mount the disk (tell the OS all about it) after you have fixed it.
However, fixing disk permissions goes through the operating system, so you can fix these with Disk Utility, booted normally. Do both of these, using 'Disk Utility', both before and after installing Firefox. Because Apple's permissions are almost always wrong, I skip checking them and just tell the computer to repair them.
If your file system is damaged, well ... we can work on that later. Just ignore it for the moment. The best option, by far, is to get the original install discs.
Where to find Firefox 1.0.7
Such old versions of popular software have been archived on such sites as
Old Version, because newer is not always better
http://www.oldversion.com/
Go to 'Internet', and click 'Mozilla Firefox'. Toward the bottom you'll see a list of versions. Click 'Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7'. You'll be taken to a page that should automatically download your browser. I had created a 'Download' folder, so I can't remember where the 'package' will be placed on your computer (possibly the desktop). In any case, click it to select it, again to open it with the default application (the installer, I believe): click, click. A window will open, containing a README file with instructions.
Download page for Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7
http://www.oldversion.com/download_Mozilla_Firefox_1.0.7.html
What's wrong with your Computer?
You should have had IE already installed. Is there any more software you need to install to get MacOSX running? (It came with a great World Book encyclopedia, which you'll lose if you upgrade to Panther - though it can be re-installed, with difficulty.)
Surely the previous owner doesn't want his old Jaguar discs: get them, if you can. If you were a Windows user, congratulations on your new, Unix workstation. Draw heavily on the Wikipedia, which has lists and comparisons of software. Also, note that MacOSX's user interface is an OOUI (object-oriented user interface): check the Wikipedia.
Using only the Desktop
To use OOUI, keep applications & such in their regular places, but create folders in 'Documents' for temporary and somewhat permanent projects, such as editing photos. Place in them aliases of all the objects you need, then place an alias of the folder on your desktop to work from.
Uploading & Printing Photos (as an example of OOUI)
From such archives as MacUpdate, VersionTracker, and SoftPedia, you can install many free, photo editors. iPhoto was very limited in the number of photos it contained, but 'iPhoto Buddy', I think, extended it both simply and indefinitely, obeying the 'rules' of Apple.
My 'Photos' folder on the desktop contained aliases to /Photos, iPhoto, other editors, &c. I uploaded photos from my camera to /Photos, not iPhoto, created folders for each 'shoot'by date, edited copies of the better photos, then dragged the properly named folders to iPhoto to create little film cannisters. All this was done from the desktop. With some creativity, there is no need to upgrade MacOSX.
GNU/Linux
A 'LiveCD' of a GNU/Linux will still extend your capabilities greatly! For example, you can often find packages of photo paper at thrift shops for 1/100 the store price. One little GNU/Linux application would let one cover a wall with photo paper so that the pieces all combine to create one huge, color photograph.
If you learn to love GNU/Linux, you can later re-partition your boot disk to hold both operating systems. Your hardware will, no doubt, support the latest Fedora or other GNU/Linux. This would give you a state-of-the-art operating system, if you really want one. It works 'hand-in-glove' with MacOSX.
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